After eight attempts, Mad Men star Jon Hamm has finally taken home an Emmy Award after Monday’s star-studded ceremony in Los Angeles.

Hamm beat out fellow nominees Kyle Chandler (Bloodline), Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom), Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul), Live Schrieber (Ray Donovan) and Kevin Spacey (House of Cards) to win the trophy for his role as troubled ad man Don Draper.

“There’s been a mistake, clearly. It’s impossible to be named with all of those extraordinary gentlemen. It’s impossible to have done this show with this incredible cast, these incredible people, our incredible writers, our incredible crew,” Hamm said when accepting his award.

“And it’s incredible and impossible for me, personally, to be standing up here.”

A previous version of this story built the case for Hamm to win the title – his 16th nomination and first win.

Read it below.

There is one man who deserves to win the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series on Monday (AEST) – although deserving it has not been enough to win it on seven previous occasions.

The man is Jon Hamm, Mad Men‘s stylish but troubled anti-hero Don Draper.

With Mad Men‘s seven seasons (the last of which was split in two) concluding in May, this is Hamm’s final chance for Primetime Emmy glory in this role.

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But he faces tough opposition from Kevin Spacey (House of Cards) and Bob Odernkirk (Better Call Saul) among others, for the award.

Scroll to the bottom for all the nominees

Hamm’s eight nominations for the award is the equal most ever, tied with legends Dennis Franz, Peter Falk and Raymond Burr. Frantz won four of them, Falk three and Burr two.

The Mad Men star has been beaten four times by Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad). Click the owl to see who else has beaten Hamm since 2008. 

While Cranston’s Walter White was an extremely complex character – a cancer-suffering drug cook and dealer, a unique role in television history – Hamm’s Draper is just as expansive.

Hamm played the role with incredible style, yet sadness. Photo: Supplied

Bee Wilson in The Guardian described Draper best.

“The show’s creator Matthew Weiner used Draper to explore the great American yearning for second chances. Hamm’s underrated performance got sadder with each season,” she wrote.

“His brittle Draper was trapped by his own invented persona … There’s a certain grimace Hamm does when swallowing bourbon, as if sickened by his own glamour and womanising.”

That a character who was so stylish, suave, charismatic and full of bravado could be equally as hateful, tragic, sombre and depressing is a testament to the range of Hamm’s performance.

Watching Draper try to wrestle with the forces at work in his mind, all of them exacerbated by the context of his job, his family, the changing times and his penchant for women and alcohol, was gripping.

He reminds us that maybe we should all be happy with what we have.

While Hamm is the sentimental favourite for the award his competition is formidable.

Cranston’s four wins have shown the judges love for Breaking Bad, and its spinoff lead Odenkirk could very well win.

Samberg will host the awards for the first time. Photo: Getty

Not to mention an award for the powerhouse performance of Spacey in House of Cards. Jeff Daniels from The Newsroom is also nominated, he beat Hamm for the award in 2012.

Kyle Chandler (Bloodline) and Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan), are the other nominees.

Hamm is nominated for his performance in the shows finale named Person to Person.

“Jon Hamm couldn’t be better in this episode,” the New York Times judged in its review. Let’s hope the Emmy’s judges agree.

The host, the Aussie and the rest of the nominees …

Seth Myers, Neil Patrick Harris and Jimmy Kimmel have hosted the past three Primetime Emmy ceremonies, but this time around the reins have been thrown to actor and comedian Andy Samberg.

Best known for his roles in comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine and satirical band The Lonely Island, he is irreverent, musically talented and not afraid to poke fun at Hollywood.

The one Australian in contention is actor Ben Mendelsohn, nominated Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama for his role in Netflix series Bloodline.

Game of Thrones dominates the nominations with 24, including outstanding drama series, while American Horror: Freak Show had 19 and Olive Kitteridge 13.

After taking its final bow, Mad Men is the crowd favourite with 11 nominations, including Elisabeth Moss and Christina Hendricks picking up acting nods.

The Emmy ceremony will take place at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles from 5pm Sunday (10am Monday AEST).

Outstanding Comedy Series

Louie (FX)
Modern Family (ABC)
Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Silicon Valley (HBO)
Transparent (Amazon)
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)
Veep (HBO)

Outstanding Drama Series

Better Call Saul (AMC)
Downton Abbey (PBS)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
Homeland (Showtime)
House of Cards (Netflix)
Mad Men (AMC)
Orange is the New Black (Netflix)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Anthony Anderson, black-ish
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Louis C.K., Louie
Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
William H. Macy, Shameless
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Kyle Chandler, Bloodline
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Claire Danes, Homeland
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Taraji P. Henson, Empire
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Robin Wright, House of Cards

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Niecy Nash, Getting On
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Allison Janney, Mom
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory
Gaby Hoffman, Transparent
Jane Krakowski, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Anna Chlumsky, Veep

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy

Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Adam Driver, Girls
Keegan-Michael Key, Key & Peele
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Titus Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Tony Hale, Veep

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul
Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline (Aussie)
Jim Carter, Downton Abbey
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Michael Kelly, House of Cards
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife

Outstanding Reality Show Competition

The Amazing Race
Dancing with the Stars
Project Runway
So You Think You Can Dance
Top Chef
The Voice

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series

Joshua Brand, The Americans, “Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?”
Gordon Smith, Better Call Saul, “Five-O”
David Benioff and David Weiss, Game of Thrones, “Mother’s Mercy”
Matthew Weiner, Mad Men, “Lost Horizon”
Matthew Weiner, Mad Men, “Person to Person”

See every single category here 

– with AAP